Conventional Theory’s Relevance: Evidence from Japan

2019

Abstract The formidable surge in the volume of international trade after 1960 stimulated surveys designed to ascertain to what degree the commercial flows among nations reflected the structure of their economies, in other words, how tight was the correlation between international exchanges and the specific attributes of participating nations. In fact, scholars were keen to test the relevance of the conventional Heckscher-Ohlin theory, that is, to what extent did nations’ exports reflect their endowment with factors of production, more specifically, whether their exports used their abundant factors intensively. I try to show that, although most of the tests reached their purpose in that they…

ON THE ASCENT OF MULTINATIONALS FROM EMERGING ECONOMIES: A GROWTH FORECAST

2014

NEW EU MEMBER COUNTRIES ARE PHASING OUT LABOR-INTENSIVE ACTIVITIES: AN ECONOMETRIC APPROACH

2012

This paper deals with the process of industrial development that has been unfolding in Central and East-European Countries during the last two decades, with special focus on changes in international specialization induced by successive shifts in comparative advantage. As it was to be expected, these advances have gradually improved the respective countries’ exports structure, the most important mutation residing in the gradual abandoning of subcontracting agreements – mostly confined to assembly-of-imported-inputs – and the expansion of the production of knowledge and human capital-intensive goods and services. European integration has most certainly been acting as a catalyst for this proce…

THE RISE OF MULTINATIONALS FROM EMERGING ECONOMIES: A THEORETICAL APPROACH

2013

ON THE ONSET OF POST-COMMUNIST INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT IN CENTRAL AND EAST EUROPEAN ECONOMIES

2013

In the course of the last twenty odd years, Central and East-European economies have been striving to reform an inherited flawed trade structure, in an attempt to increase their industrial competitiveness and improve their position within the international division of labor. The respective countries have gone through an industrial metamorphosis that swept away the legacy of socialist autarky, making them better-equipped to deal with globalization challenges. The dismantling of the COMECON forced CEEs to institute severe constraints on public budgets; as a consequence, the price of physical capital edged up relative to the price of labor thereby making the respective economies relative abund…

RISKS OF DISREGARDING THE INCOMPATIBLE TRINITY RULE: THE SWISS FRANC CRISIS CASE

2015

When designing economic policies, governments must take account not only of economic laws but also of certain rules of thumb. The incompatible trinity is such rule, which states that a country cannot simultaneously have a fixed exchange rate regime, mobility of foreign capital and an independent monetary policy. Traditionally, the rule has been generally observed, whether knowingly or not. The recent crisis triggered by the removal of cap on the Swiss franc is an illustrative example of what might happen if the said rule is disregarded.

INDUSTRIES IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE ARE MAKING STRIDES TOWARD SERVITIZATION

2014

This paper is intended to examine, without empirical evidence, the way industries in Central and Eastern Europe are heading toward convergence of knowledge-intensive sectors. Emboldened by European Union’s commitment to become the world’s most competitive entity, industries in the new member countries are phasing out low skilled labor-intensive activities such as subcontracting of final assembly, concomitantly trying to integrate skilled labor-intensive inputs in production. Following a powerful trend that is manifest in global manufacturing, firms in the region are endeavoring to enhance the value of their offerings by providing knowledge-intensive services in addition to physical products…

ON THE COMPETITIVENESS ISSUE IN THE GLOBALIZATION CONTEXT

2012

This paper rests on the fundamental assumption that, not only manufacturing matters but performance in manufacturing is critical for nations` economic development and welfare increase. Globalization has made these aspects conspicuous. As it was to be expected, advances in competitiveness have gradually reshaped emerging countries` exports structure, the most important mutation residing in the abandoning of labor-intensive industries and the expansion of knowledge-intensive sectors. European integration has acted as a steady catalyst in this process.

ON THE ASCENT OF MULTINATIONALS FROM EMERGING ECONOMIES: INELUCTABLE CLASHES

2014

STRUCTURAL CHANGES IN INTERNATIONAL TRADE: INTER-INDUSTRY SHIFTS IN COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE

2012

The contemporary industrial configuration centered on intra-firm trade and cross border commodity chains has made comparative advantage look like a rusty concept. Prior to globalization, shifts in comparative advantage would occur mainly across industries, causing clear-cut changes in countries’ specialization patterns. By contrast, when factors of production are allowed to move freely across national boundaries, the picture gets somewhat fuzzy: the comparative advantage concept requires a different approach that should take into account the increasing disintegration of production processes and spreading of economic activities across the globe. Due to their relatively high mobility and prop…